Ans: The ear piercing procedure as such cannot cause nickel allergy. It is the material that some ear piercing earrings are made of which can cause nickel allergy. All ear piercing earrings made of metal contain nickel– more or less – even gold and silver. The only ear piercing earrings that do not contain any nickel (= 0% nickel) are the ones made of Medical Plastic. Therefore we recommend that your kids get their ears pierced with Medical Plastic.

Among friends we discuss whether gold is less allergenic than titanium and therefore better for ear piercing. Would you be so kind to give us the correct information. Alliance Pediatrics
2017-03-15T18:32:40+00:00

Ans: If both metals gold and titanium contain the same amount of nickel, titanium is the best metal for ear piercing as titanium binds nickel better than any other metal, including gold. In other words titanium will will leak less nickel than any other metal, which means that titanium is less likely to cause nickel allergy.

On the after care instruction that I received when I had my ears pierced, it says nothing about using an antiseptic! Why? Alliance Pediatrics
2017-03-15T18:32:19+00:00

Ans: An ear piercing means that you have got a wound. There are two kinds of wounds non infected wounds and infected wounds. Infected wounds should be treated with an antiseptic. A fresh ear piercing is however a non is however a non infected wound. Non infected wounds should be kept CLEAN, DRY and AIRY. So, first wash your hands thoroughly and then wash your pierced ear with liquid soap and a lot of clean running water, e.g. when having a shower. Then use a clean towel or Q-tips to dry the clean piercing. An alternative to soap and water are Blomdahl Ear Care cleansing swabs. Very practical if running water is not at hand. Blomdahl Ear Care cleansing swabs are available for purchase where you pierce your ears. If the piercing does become infected remove the ear piercing earring and cleanse with an antiseptic solution.

If there is no improvement the following day, seek medical attention? Alliance Pediatrics
2017-03-15T18:31:50+00:00

I had my ears pierced two weeks ago and now I have got an infection in one of the piercings. What should I do? Ans: It is difficult to give an exact answer without knowing the exact condition of the ear but as general advice: – If the infection is in the soft part of the ear remove the ear piercing earring, clean with an antiseptic. If no recovery until next day – see a physician. – If the infection is in the hard part of the ear (cartilage) – remove the earring, clean with an antiseptic and see a physician immediately as infection in cartilage needs urgent medical attention. Other symptoms that need urgent medical attention are a. redness spreading from the piercing and b. a very swollen ear.

I was told that a thicker needle is better than a thinner needle for ear piercing. Is that so? Alliance Pediatrics
2017-03-15T18:31:26+00:00

Ans: A thicker needle has got a very important advantage; there is more room, which makes it easier to switch to normal earrings after the healing period. With a thin ear piercing needle there is a greater risk that you will scratch the walls of the piercing when switching earrings, causing a new wound and hence run the risk of getting an infection.

Ans: One can develop an allergy to practically every substance also plastic materials. However, the specific plastics of medical grade that we use for the ear piercing earrings (and also normal earrings) have been used extensively on a regular basis in and on humans for more than 35 years. In the medical literature there are no reports that these plastics have been the cause of allergy.

My friends tell me not to pierce high up on the ear through cartilage. Alliance Pediatrics
2017-03-15T18:30:38+00:00

Ans: As long as the piercing is done just inside the rolling edge, there are no particular risks involved in the piercing as such. Before you decide to have the cartilage part of your ear pierced, you should however understand, that there is not the same kind of “built-in” protection against infection in cartilage as there is in the soft part of the ear (the ear lobe). While you have blood vessels in the soft part, there are no blood vessels in cartilage. The white cells and the oxygen in the red cells of the blood act as a defense against infection. As there are no blood vessels in the cartilage there is no defense mechanism against infection. This means, that it is even more important for your cartilage pierced ear, that you carefully follow the written after care instructions, which will be given to you by the piercing practioner. In the case of an infection in cartilage we recommend that you remove the earring, clean with an antiseptic and go and see a physician immediately.

Why should I not twist the earrings during the healing period? Alliance Pediatrics
2017-03-15T18:30:05+00:00

Ans: If you twist the earrings without having carefully washed the ears and your hands first, it can result in an infection. A common misunderstanding is that if you do not twist the ear piercing earring the skin will grow onto the earring – this will not happen with Blomdahl Medical Ear Piercing.

For how long should I wear the ear piercing earrings? Alliance Pediatrics
2017-03-15T18:29:12+00:00

Ans: When you have pierced the soft part of your ear, you can change the ear piercing earring already after four weeks. It takes longer time to heal a piercing in cartilage, so we recommend you to wait for at least six weeks until you remove the ear piercing earring. When the time has come to change the earrings, we recommend you to take out the ear piercing earring directly after you have taken a shower and washed your hair. Do not let the piercing be without any earring as the piercing will shrink and the diameter of the hole will quickly be reduced, especially during the first year.

Why do you only plate the top of the ear piercing earring with gold and not the whole earring? Alliance Pediatrics
2017-03-15T18:28:41+00:00

Ans: By plating only the top it is only the extremely skin-friendly titanium that comes into direct contact with your skin and hence there is virtually no risk for an allergic reaction. In addition, new EU nickel regulations stipulate that ear piercing earrings must contain less than 0,05 % nickel and be homogeneous – this means that a gold plating is not allowed on any parts that come in direct contact with the body. We are not born with nickel allergy. Nickel allergy is a skin contact alllergy which can develop as a result of continuous contact with objects that contain nickel, such as zips, buttons, coins, and jewellery. Ear piercing is a strong contributing factor to the increasing numbers of nickel allergy sufferers. World wide clinical studies have all identified and confirmed ear piercing as a prime risk factor for developing nickel allergy, with as many as 10-30% of all women affected. Once you have developed a nickel allergy there is no remedy which can cure the allergy. The only solution is to avoid all contact with metals containing nickel. However this can be very difficult because all metals contain nickel, even gold and silver, mostly in the form of impurities. Therefore, there are no metal earrings which are entirely free from nickel. If you already have pierced ears we recommend that you wear Blomdahl Caring Earrings – earrings developed in consultation with skin specialists.

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